[6th April 2020- Updating this post on the book's first release anniversary]
The Journey:
Media Coverage:
Reviews and Response:
"Good book with details description on Republic India coins" - Garg Kamal Kishore
"Very interesting and valuable information content in the book." - Noushad Mansuri
Eminent Buyers:
Aftermath and Concluding-note:
With the beginning of Hindu Nav-Varsh (Vikram Samvat 2076), on 6th April 2019 my book - The Coinage of Republic India, Coins after British Raj (1950-2018) stepped into the Indian Numismatic World. It was indeed a proud moment for me and my family. Through this article, I will be sharing my journey of becoming an author.
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| [6th April 2019] Book Release Ceremony at All India Coin Exhibition-Coinex Jaipur 2019 held in BM Birla Auditorium, Jaipur in the presence of Senior Numismatist Prof. Shashikant Bhatt, Mr. Ashok Singh Thakur, Dr. Dilip Rajgor, Mr. Prakash Chandra Kothari (Right to Left) and other dignitaries. |
I have been collecting coins since 2012. My collection had been recognised by various World and National records. Later, I was awarded the Young Collector’s Award at Indore Mudra Utsav, 2015 and Yuva Mudra Ratna in 2016. I always had a great interest in RI coinage and had been researching actively on the Republic India series for seven years. I always felt that this subject of Indian Coinage was always neglected and not much literature was available to study this series. Neither the mintage nor the particulars like hidden facts, die varieties, making of coins, etc which always fascinated collectors, were missing from books and all available resources.
And I therefore, decided to pen down a book after four years of labour-intensive research. I started with understanding how an ideal book should be and how it should be framed. I received guidance from Mr. Nilaish (who is an author himself) who helped in various ways. Next, I started searching for someone who can help me with images of the coins, thanks to Mr. Joseph Kunnappally from Texas USA who readily agreed to permit the use of his fantastic images in this book. Then, I contacted Mr. Sanjay Kansal, who is a well-known expert in RI coinage, whose guidance can be corresponded as, that of Lord Krishna to Arjun. The people who helped me in die varieties were Mr. Raja Biswas and Mr. Ponpandi Perumal whom I refer as the "Die Variety Kings".
Since I stepped into being a law student in the second year of my journey, I started exploring legal aspects to widen my approach and as a result, various RTI, letters, applications, emails, and study of the Coinage Act brought in a turning point. I was now ready to share what I had gained so far.
Many people, directly and indirectly, helped me with this catalog especially my family, Mr. Sanjay Kansal, Mr. Joseph Kunnappally, Mr. BK Kar, Mr. Nilaish, Mr. Jayadevan M Jayadevan, Mr. Sudhir Lunawat, Mr. Rajesh Bhat, Mr. Raja Biswas, Mr. Ponpandi Perumal, Mr. Mukul Priyadarshil, Dr. Arthur Needham, Mr. Prem Kumar Pandey, Mr. Ravi Jaiswal, Mr. Vaikunta Chary R, Mr. Tejas H Shah, Mr. Patrick Glassford and many more. Many many thanks to all of them, it would not have been possible without you all! Also special thanks to Mr. Girish Sharma for always inspiring me. The support I got from Indian Govt Mints, Right to Information Department and Govt of India is also worth mentioning.
Finding a Publisher:
Finding a publisher is always a tough task and getting your work published at such a young age makes it a bit more complicated. Initially, I wanted some renowned numismatic publisher to publish my work (which author won't!). But neither I knew how to approach them nor I had the background to present my skills, therefore after wasting months and blindly trusting a few made me lose faith which finally made me realize the game!
It was February or March (2019) when Mr. Anil Sharma told my father about Indra Publishing House and its MD Mr. Manish Gupta. He showed confidence in my work and readily accepted to publish it. I owe him and his entire team including Mr. Pramod Singh, Mr. Sanjeev Rai, and Mr. Sumit Jadon thanks in several regards.
Introduction to the book:
India is a land of diverse cultures and traditions. In the last seventy-one years since its independence, India has issued coins on a diverse range of subjects in a diverse range of denominations and metals. India has four mints at Mumbai, Noida (near New Delhi), Kolkata and Hyderabad. In 2015- 16, India produced a staggering 9254 million pieces of coins. There are many excellent books on British India coinage, Moghul coinage and coinage of earlier periods. Unfortunately, modern and Republic coins of India have not been subjected to serious and standardised research and extensive studies. The coin collectors of India as well as abroad are waking up to the true potential of Republic India coinage. Last few years have seen more and more interest in Republic India coinage. This book is first book of its kind covering whole gamut of Republic India coinage including reported and unreported die varieties. The author hopes that this book will act as single point reference guide and catalogue for beginners as well as experienced collectors.
This book can be referred as the encyclopedia of coins circulating in republic India. The book contains beautifully organised images of coins along with their historic intellectual information. Based on the information collected by 2nd year Law student Arpit Gupta by his four years labour-intensive research has been presented in a scientific form. The book contains information which stands unpublished prior to his work such as the quantity of coins minted and different die variety used to mint a coin.
Key Features:
1. The book contains circulating series of RI coinage - Definitive and Commemorative
2. The book contains official mintage figures.
3. Die varieties well illustrated with images.
4. Condition wise market estimates included.
5. Includes other articles (like error coins etc)
6. Not just a checklist but a book for collectors who are really interested in collecting..!!
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| The book cover. |
ISBN : 978-93-88338-37-0
MRP : ₹995 / $50 Limited Edition, 302 paged perfectly hard bound, fully colored printed on 80 GSM high quality paper; dimension 8.5 x 11
The book starts with greetings from Madhya Pradesh RTI Commissioner Vijay Manohar Tiwari highlighting the use of RTI Act in such a unique way followed by a letter from Mr. Girish Sharma, Convener Rashtriya Mudra Parishad, India. The book gets its forewords from Nilaish, Author - From Rupees to Paper Promise – A History of Indian Paper Money, where he recalls various discussions with the author.
Grand Finale Day:
The release function was organized in BM Birla Auditorium on the 2nd day of Coinex Jaipur 2019, the biggest and largest Exhibition and; Trade Fair in Rajasthan of Coins, Paper Money, Autographs and Stamps Co-Sponsored by - Mintage World, Mumbai, in co-operation with Rajasthan Mudra Parishad, Philatelic Society of Rajasthan, and Jaipur Philatelic Society.
At 11:30 AM, the book was released in the hands of Senior Numismatist Mr. Prakash Chandra Kothari and others. it was followed by a speech by Mr. Ashok Singh and later, I shared my experience along with a vote of thanks. The event was allover conducted by Dr. Dilip Rajgor. The event was followed by the release of another book -“Bhartiya Sikkon ka Itihas” by Dr. Neelkamal Maheshwari and other academic sessions.
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| I was literally honoured to see buyers asking for my autograph on the book! |
The book got a quite satisfactory response from the numismatic fraternity. Being my very first attempt and the first edition of this book, the possibility of errors cannot be ruled out. Here are some reviews-
"इंदौर के तरुण संग्राहक चिर, अर्पित गुप्ता की प्रस्तुत पुस्तक भारतीय गणराज्य के सिक्कों का महत्वपूर्ण प्रकाशन है." - Girish Sharma (President - Rashtriya Mudra Parishad)
"One of a kind book on Republic India coins which not only covers definitive and commemorative coins but also Die varieties, Minting technique, Errors and details about coinage Act with good quality Photos and illustrations.Good book not only to beginners but also to professional collectors and general public interested in history of Indian coins." - Rajesh Bhat
"Book covers both reported and unreported die varieties. Very handy reference guide for beginners as well as experience collectors." - Sanjay Saraf
"Good book with details description on Republic India coins" - Garg Kamal Kishore
"Almost all reported and unreported Die and mint varieties mentioned in this book. I think the best reference guide book for all coin collectors and beginners." - Jayadevan
"पहली बार किसी युवा ने सिक्कों के शौकीनो को इतनी सिद्दत से बेहतरीन जानकारी उपलब्ध करवाने क़ी कोशिश क़ी हैं ! अपने संग्रह से जुड़ी हर बारीकी औऱ उम्दा जानकारियां प्राप्त करने के लिए यह Book जरूर खरीदे! " - Sudhir Lunawat
"Very interesting and valuable information content in the book." - Noushad Mansuri
"किताबें तो बहुत पढ़ी, लेकिन ये किताब सच में नयाब है। अभी तक किसी भी पुस्तक में ,कोई भी सिक्का कितना बना है इसकी सटीक जानकारी नहीं दी गई है। लेकिन ये संभव किया तुमने,इसके लिए बधाई के पात्र हो। सूचना के अधिकार का प्रथम बार उपयोग, हमारी शौखो को आकाश की अनंत उचाई पर ले जाने के करना ,उसके किये कोटि कोटि अभिनंदन। Die varieties , Mint Varieties, Lion variety हो या other varieties की जानकारी चित्रों के माध्यम से बहुत ही सही तरीके से दी गई है । किताब सच में बहुत अच्छी है,मैं इसे सभी को लेने के लिये अपना सुझाव देता हूं।" - Prem Kumar Pandey
A comprehensive review by Prof SK Bhatt, was published in The Journal of Academy of Indian Numismatics and Sigillography Vol XXXII (2018) pg
Eminent Buyers:
- Stephen Album Rare Coins Inc., USA
- Marudhar Arts
- Classical Numismatic Gallery
On 22/02/2020, the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh through its Department of Public Relations recognized my work and placed an order to put a copy in all public State and Central Libraries.
Aftermath and Concluding-note:
After the book was published my social media accounts were flooded with wishes and blessings. People started bringing in questions and queries they encounter about the RI coinage and this particular book.
"Learning is a lifelong continuous process", so true, isn't it? Learning never stops, these fruitful conversations always teaches me something or the other. New die varieties are reported frequently and the research never stops. People often ask me, when are you planning the next edition... and probably I don’t have an answer at the moment.
Some Links